Lights of Seattle

In the debate over how much augmentation makes a picture "fake," my basic rule is, I don't use Photoshop or other tools to create something that doesn't appear in nature - unless that's the point of the image, in which case, I'd be very clear that it's a fantasy.

So, No - you can't see the Milky Way over Seattle like this, but only because the lights of the city obscure it. If everyone in Seattle agreed to turn out their lights on a Summer evening, this is the sky we would see.

For this image, I stole the sky from a spot near Mount St. Helens, and placed it over the Seattle, shot from Gasworks park.

I shot this image from the viewing gallery at the Columbia Tower. Though tourists often go to the Space Needle for a view of Seattle, this is the best view of the city.

Seattle in Blue

In the Spring of 2016 I went to the top of Columbia Tower at least half a dozen time to shoot time lapses of the city. There are so many things to shoot up there, but the weather doesn't always cooperate, so I went again and again, until I got it right. This is a still from a moody time lapse I shot on a foggy evening

I was at the intersection of Denny and Aurora, waiting for the light to change when I really took notice of this retro neon sign.

Photographing it was an experiment that turned out exceptionally well. As grimy and broken down as it is in the day, by night it's pristine and clean light. I have a print of this one, and it's beautiful.

I spent several nights in the Spring of 2016 shooting The Great Wheel. I met the guy who designs the light shows. The wheel is like his own, very cool Light Bright. The patterns change with holidays and his whim. You can bet I'll be back to take pictures of it again.